Landing page
Small thoughts
Saved thoughts
JOYJAR
Saved moments
Open when page
Open when page

Inspiration

Our goal was to develop something simple that would motivate people to notice little happy moments in everyday life. We were inspired by the idea of gathering all these tiny moments in one place and revisiting them whenever we need some happiness.

What it does

JoyJar is a digital happiness jar where users can save their favorite little moments as memories. They can write a note, categorize it and also optionally upload a picture. Memories are shown as a collection and users can open their JoyJar to uncover a random happy memory. Website also has daily prompts and milestones.

How we built it

I created JoyJar as a web application using HTML, CSS and JavaScript. I designed and developed the initial UI using Stitch AI with an emphasis on warm and playful experience. Codex helped me with the backend part and Cloudinary takes care of the uploaded memory pictures.

AI use

For UI I used ChatGPT to generate my prompt. I put my UI prompt into Stitch and it generated the UI for me. Then I changed the UI according to my visuals of how I wanted the website to look like. For backend I used a mix of Codex and GitHub Copilot to assist me with the errors and part of Cloudinary integrations.

Challenges we ran into

One of the main challenges for me was simplicity and engagement. I did not want JoyJar to be just another cliché memory website. Also I needed to find how to work with pictures, connect Cloudinary to our backend and make sure that uploaded pictures will look good in our scrapbook style.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

I am glad that we managed to turn our very simple idea, collecting little moments of joy into an interactive experience. I am especially happy with the interaction with JoyJar, scrapbook-like memory cards, milestone celebrations and the Cloudinary integration.

What we learned

I learned that not every project needs complicated functionality to make an impact. Also, I got more hands-on experience with full-stack development, connecting frontend with backend and database, file uploads and Cloudinary integrations. But most of all I understood the power of UX details.

What's next for JoyJar

There are many future ideas such as more interactive jar themes, more memory visualizations, personalized daily prompts, monthly "Joy Recaps", more Cloudinary-powered media experiences and even creating shared JoyJars with friends and family. A joy-gamified milestone system, and when all the milestones are complete, you get a cute animation and the Joyous Person badge.